


Kiss the Sea

by FleetSparrow



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Bruce if you don't capture the merman, He'll capture you, M/M, Mermen, mermaid - Freeform, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-13
Updated: 2014-01-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 17:11:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1135278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/pseuds/FleetSparrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The rocky shores below Wayne Manor mirror Bruce's moods like a romantic poem.  But the sea is dark and romance isn't always sweet.  And now, the strange and beautiful young man at the shore knows his name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kiss the Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [narfiffiftic (maladictive)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maladictive/gifts).



> This may not quite turn out to be the Mermaid-AU I was planning, but it's definitely grown its own universe now.

Bruce had always enjoyed playing on the rocks below Wayne Manor when he was a boy. The waves of the ocean would splash up against his feet and make the rocks slippery, the spray would make his face sticky and tight, and, if he ever fell in, he’d always come up cold and shivering, but there was just something so magical about the ocean beneath their home that he couldn’t stay away.

The shore was a safe place, a place where he could think and be away from whatever was happening up above. When his parents were shot and in the hospital for two months, he came down to the shore to calm down after visits. When he was getting into trouble in high school for fighting and grounded, he'd sneak down to watch the waves. When college stress was getting too much, or he'd have a fight with Harvey, he'd drive in on weekends unannounced, just to sit on the rocks. And now, at the end of his first and spectacularly failed marriage, he returned, a grown man curled up on the rocks pouting at the sea like a child.

That's certainly what he felt like.

Bruce bowed his head and hugged his knees in tighter. It was all a mess, everything was. Not for the first time, he wondered if he should ditch it all and jump into the sea, just start swimming until he couldn't anymore. It was an old feeling, gross melancholy he didn't like thinking about. Suddenly, there was a strange splash to his right, and he looked up.

"Hi! What are you doing?" A young man was hanging onto a large rock, his chin resting on his arms while the lower half of him stayed in the water. He cocked his head at Bruce and smiled. "What are you doing?" he repeated.

Bruce sat up straighter, blinking hard as if he might see something to explain what just happened. "I was... thinking," he said, suddenly having trouble finding words. "I didn't think anyone else was here."

The young man laid his head down. "Do you do that often? Come here and think?"  
Bruce nodded. "I like to, yes. It's... quiet. Peaceful."

The young man smiled brightly. "It's beautiful out here, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Bruce took a deep breath, almost as if he was remembering to breathe again, and stood up, walking closer to the young man. "Do you live around here? I haven't seen you here before."

The young man laughed. "Yes. I've seen you here before." Although his smile stayed, he tensed very slightly as Bruce came near him, his eyes focused sharply on Bruce's movements until Bruce sat down in front of his rock. "What's your name?"

"Bruce," he answered quickly, his stomach fluttering once the word was out. He pointed up to the Manor. "I live up there. Where do you live?"

"Bruce," the young man said softly, as if testing the name. "Broooosssse. I like it! Bruce." He smiled. "I like your name."

Bruce flushed and leaned forward unconsciously. "What's your name?"

The young man laughed suddenly, and his laugh sounded like a waterfall to Bruce. "Name a thing and it's yours! I can't tell you my name, not yet. Later."

Somehow, that didn't bother Bruce. "All right. What should I call you, then?"

"Whatever you'd like," the young man said. "It's not my name."

"Then I'll-- I'll... I'll call you...." Bruce trailed off. He'd never been very clever at naming things, even as a child. He thought back on the past few weeks, trying to find some sort of name, any name, from the people he'd met or places he'd been, but nothing seemed right for this beautiful laughing creature. He remembered a boy, an acrobat at the circus his parents had taken him to to help get his mind off the divorce. A tiny laughing thing, full of energy and movement. It wasn't enough, but it was as close a connection to this man's energy as he could find. "Dick. I'll call you Dick."

Dick smiled wider, straightening up for the first time. "Dick. I like it. Bruce."

Every time Dick said his name, it felt like a kiss. His stomach ached with a strange anticipation. He wanted to touch him, wanted to go closer to the beautiful young man, but his body wouldn't move. The most Bruce could do was lean forward a little more.

"Where do you come from?" Bruce asked. "Why haven't I seen you before? Where do you live?"

Dick laughed brightly and this time his laugh seemed to be echoed by the waves. "You haven't looked, silly! You've been thinking."

Bruce was about to respond when he heard his mother's voice calling him from up the hill. He turned to look for her, but no one was there. Frowning, he turned back to Dick, but the young man was gone. All Bruce could see was the bare rock and the ocean.

As he stood to leave, he swore he heard Dick's laughter again, but all that was there was the waves.


End file.
